In this paper, we explore the storied lives of the critically endangered Southern Resident Orcas who dwell in the cherished and endangered Salish Sea, situated alongside the coast of British Columbia and Washington State. Elder wisdom held and shared by Orca matriarchs is the lifeblood and Heart Knowledge of three related pods, J, K, and L. With the recent death of 105 year-old matriarch Granny J2, questions arise: Who will assume the role of knowledge keeper of the pods’ lived experiences? What is the future of the Southern Resident Orcas and the Salish Sea as matrilines diminish and disappear into Great Silence? (Saulitis, 2014). Devastated Chinook salmon populations combined with increasing threats of ocean traffic and military testing, existing and proposed oil pipelines, and pollutants have pushed the Southern Resident Orcas to the edge of anthropogenic extinction. This past August, the world watched and grieved with Talequah J35 as she carried her deceased newborn calf for 17 days and 1000 miles. Then, wee Scarlet J50, the much loved four year-old whose 2012 birth heralded an Orca baby-boom of 11 calves, died undersized and emaciated from failure to thrive. Only half of those calves remain with no successful births for two years. The Southern Resident population is at an alarming historical low of 74 whales. The whales’ heartrending stories are a call to action, and this paper is a response to that call. We will present conversations embracing Elder Knowledge and Elder Wisdom; Intersectionality of the human and more than human in this Age of the Anthropocene, storied through the lens of how “place” is lived by Elders facing the threat of displacement from their homes, community, and traditional spaces. We will share their lived experiences as Ki and Kin (Kimmerer, 2017), honour them with Respect, Reciprocity, Reverence, Responsibility, Rootedness (Archibald, 2008; Kimmerer, 2013, 2017), and nurture interspecies bonds through spiritual, corporeal, and cosmological connections (Fawcett, 1999; Jardine, 1998; Payne & Wattchow, 2009). We conclude with wisdom and inspiration from Robin Wall Kimmerer (2016): “To love a place is not enough. We must find ways to heal it (p. 317)”.

Sandra Scott – My work focuses on storywork and narrative inquiry within the contexts of elementary science, environmental education, and teacher education. I am a naturalist, scientist, and educator of, for, and in the environment and am a passionate advocate for learning experiences that nurture our sense of Wonder for the human and more than human world. The storied lives of the Southern Resident Orca community with whom we share a home, the Salish Sea, guide all that I do in my teaching, research, and life!

Fay Bigloo – Being through many events in my personal history, I identify myself as a complex being—a mixed character of many things—a collage. I may have arrived at a place in understanding of others residing within or without, but that is only in part. My educational interests lay in the areas that link philosophy, theory and history together.

Douglas Adler – My work focuses on the nature of science, elementary science, science education, and teacher education.

Sandra Scott, PhD: Senior Instructor, Department of Curriculum & Pedagogy, Faculty of Education, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
Fay Bigloo: Doctoral Candidate, Curriculum Studies, Department of Curriculum & Pedagogy, Faculty of Education, UBC, Vancouver, Canada
Douglas Adler, PhD. Lecturer, Department of Curriculum & Pedagogy, Faculty of Education, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC. Canada

Thank you for this opportunity to share the lived experiences of the Southern Resident Killer Whale Community. We are witnessing their extinction and responding to their call for hope and healing.